Our leaders should be frontline warriors

Why is Telangana in the eye of storm over the number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the State? Did the 29th State lose by going in for fewer tests compared to other states where more tests have been conducted? Is Telangana the only State which has not been going in for large scale tests? If not then why is it that the criticism against Telangana is more? Central ministers, BJP MPs from the State, Congress leaders in the state and even some journalists turned analysts have been targeting Telangana on YouTube.

Taking the political controversy further, the Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and the BJP here -- have accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao of hiding and manipulating facts. It also alleged that there was a clear pattern of wilful neglect on the part of the government. The State government's argument that it was "on par" with the US and the UK in doing accurate tests did not end the controversy. Congress party alleged lack of transparency on data sharing and instrument procurement and procurement of other accessories.

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan, wrote a letter to the chief secretary Somesh Kumar, pointing out that the state had a higher positivity rate — the ratio of positive diagnosis to the number of tests conducted — than the national average. "We need to chase the virus rather than the virus chase us," Sudan said and urged the chief secretary to review the situation and enhance testing.

Telangana state accounted for just 1.5 per cent, or 20,754, of the more than 14 lakh RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) tests carried out nationwide. Sudan noted that the number of samples tested in Telangana was far behind Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, which have reported high numbers of Covid-19 cases. "The total number of cases in Telangana as on 17 May was 1,551, with 34 deaths." A health ministry official said while Andhra Pradesh conducted 9,000 tests per day on average, Telangana state's total is just over 200.

Sudan also said, "Telangana's tally of tests per million population was far lower than that of other states, as well as the national average, between 30 April and 6 May. While the all-India testing average was 1,025 per million population, the figure for Telangana was only 546." The Health Minister countered saying that in the US 16 out of 100 tests return positive while in Telangana state it stood at six. "This shows our accurate approach" he said.

The logic behind more tests, the Centre and ICMR claim is that more tests means early detection of cases and increase in number of cases cured. But does that really help? What is important is to see that people follow the WHO protocols in letter and spirit to contain the spread of the virus more than chasing after people to increase the number of tests.

About 5.5 lakh Covid-19 tests have been conducted in Andhra Pradesh spending over a billion. But still the number of cases keep mounting in the range of about 200 per day. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi also conducted large number of cases but then is the situation under control? Speculations are rife that these states may have to impose complete lockdown once again.

Perhaps the best way to contain the pandemic would be to forget politicking and all parties should work out an action plan and push all its leaders into the field to educate the people and see that they strictly follow the ICMR guidelines in preventing the spread of the virus. By now leaders across the country should have become the frontline warriors in creating awareness but no such move is being seen anywhere.

No amount of tests or government action will help contain the pandemic. Self discipline among people is very important which we lack badly. Hence the leaders should now become the front line warriors and take up the responsibility to see that people follow the protocols. Self-help is best help.